Domestic violence thrives when prevention is underfunded

Bridget Mahoney lives in Sycamore Township and is chair-elect of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. She is a former television news anchor and domestic violence survivor.

Our nation is mourning another mass murder, this time in Texas, and with roots in domestic violence. That there is a correlation between the two is not surprising. Research shows that in at least 54 percent of mass shootings, the perpetrator also shot an intimate partner or relative.

In October, we recognized Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to shed light on the devastating and destructive issue that is an epidemic in our country.

Here in Ohio, the statistics are grim.

According to the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN), 116 people lost their lives to domestic violence between July 2016 and June of 2017. In 83 total cases, 62 women and 53 men died. That’s an increase from the previous fiscal year when 101 people died in 69 cases.

This past October in Cincinnati alone, 3 people were murdered in domestic violence incidents.

Shocking numbers, but an even more shocking number is the amount of money Ohio designates in the state budget to address the issue. Zero. Nothing.

Ohio’s response must get better.

We are one of the few states without a line item in the budget earmarked for domestic violence prevention and services. The average per state nationwide is $7.5 million dollars. Neighboring Pennsylvania dedicates over $15 million dollars.

Ohio’s lawmakers came close this year to allocating $100,000 per year to the newly created Domestic Violence Program to be operated by the Attorney General’s Office. Yet even that small amount was cut from the final budget.

Currently, Ohio’s domestic violence programs are funded by competitive federal grants and a small portion of the counties marriage and divorce license fees. The fee is $17 per marriage license and $27 per divorce, dissolution, or annulment. The fee is critically important; however, most counties (61) realize less than $20,000 annually from this source. A small amount of money that comes nowhere near the need to accomplish the work being done.

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And sadly, on that day 115 people, most of them seeking shelter, were turned away because programs did not have enough resources to help

According to ODVN Executive Director Nancy Neylon, domestic violence programs have weathered reductions in foundation support, United Way dollars, and private giving. Yet the need for life-saving services has not decreased.

Cincinnati’s Women Helping Women CEO and President Kristin Shrimplin recently said that their agency had to dip into savings for the first time to help clients.

We have extraordinary, dedicated people in place at Ohio’s 69 shelters, creating and employing the best practices to care for victims and eliminate domestic violence. "They help victims recover from trauma, find housing, help secure protection orders, and therapy for children,” Neylon states. “Victims find refuge, safety, resources, information and a new hope that they can re-build safer lives for themselves and their children.”

Domestic violence thrives in silence, thrives when people turn away, and it thrives when the programs to help victims and the programs to provide prevention are underfunded.

We need Ohio to fund these programs, to let these people do their jobs and bring down those tragic statistics.

A line item in Ohio’s state budget for the Domestic Violence Program must be a priority.